We’re live and poolside at the close of eTail Palm Springs. This year’s conference brought less theory and more proof, from agentic platforms doing actual operational work to the quiet rise of go-to-market tooling among merchants. One thing is clear: AI stopped talking and started shipping. Brian and Phillip break down the sessions, hallway conversations, and briefings that mattered most, and dive into their marathon week of discussions with companies including CommerceIQ, Attentive, Resolve AI, Decile, Modem, and more.

• Agentic AI is operational now. Platforms like CommerceIQ are replacing FTE-style workflows, running around the clock, and proactively surfacing insights.
• Context is everything… and most native AI tools don't have it. In-tool AI using synthetic or siloed data is producing unreliable outputs. The winning stack integrates across all data sources.
• CRM is mainstream; go-to-market tooling is emerging. Merchants are now using tools like Clay, a tool built for B2B sales prospecting, to find creators, influencers, and strategic partners.
• Clienteling looks different when repurchase cycles are a decade long. Brands like Ernesta (custom rugs) and GHD (hairstyling tools) are rethinking loyalty and relationship-building without the luxury of frequent transactions.
• "Consolidation is power." Whoever consolidates information, tasks, and systems the best will hold the advantage, both in business and in AI.

Quotes:

• [00:20:15] "The marketing agent is looking for a segmentation issue... high CAC and low LTV. Those are things that, as an organization, you'd have to surface, invest in, create segments, create a dashboard — and then bother to look at." — Phillip
• [00:37:38] "The job of the RFP responder is the same as the code developer. They become a shepherd and a reviewer rather than a writer." — Brian
• [00:48:03] "What do we lose when we eliminate the mundane?" — Brian
• [00:51:09] "In the next six months, AI is going to own entire workflows without any human intervention." — George Davis, CMO of Cozy Earth (as quoted by Phillip)

• Listen to Kristin Flor Perret’s episode on Future Commerce
• Get on the list for our ShopTalk Spring After Party

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

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Jonathan Cohen, CMO of Onyx Global Group (Pure Daily Care & Aquasonic), joins Phillip and Alicia to trace the arc from Amazon-first launches to TikTok Shop dominance. This week, we unpack the unmeasurable and explore what it actually means to cede your marketing playbook to a creator economy that doesn't need your permission.

• Creators are the new CMOs. Brands don't cascade strategy; creators build their own.
• Amazon reviews are still currency. Early investment in social proof compounds over the years.
• Sampling is a long game. Expect results two to three months out, not just the week of Black Friday.
• TikTok Live provides free focus groups. Real-time customer feedback can greenlight a new product line and unlock new growth opportunities.
• You can't dashboard everything. The brands with staying power are building habits, not just conversions.
• "The creators are our mini CMOs. They build their own marketing plans, their own talking points, their own strategies to sell our products." — Jonathan Cohen [00:22:08]
• "We have cut checks for tens of thousands of dollars to creators we've never spoken to before." — Jonathan Cohen [00:22:07]
• "If you brush your teeth, you're an Aquasonic potential customer." — Jonathan Cohen [00:45:28]
• "You're building habits. And there's no better investment in brand than that — because those habits stick with them a lot longer than the ad dollar you spent to get them there." — Phillip Jackson [00:47:50]

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

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In just one year, Daily Harvest was acquired by Chobani, dropped its subscription requirement, and launched a campaign calling out the wellness hype machine. CEO Ricky Silver joins us to talk about the facts in an industry dominated by fiction.

• The wellness hype machine is exhausting consumers. Daily Harvest's "Eat Food, Not Fiction" is its counter-punch.
• Subscription was a business convenience, not a consumer demand, and removing the gate unlocked growth.
• Consumer sovereignty and business autonomy are in tension with one another. The brands that resolve it will win.
• LLMs are the new discovery layer. Brands must build authoritative, trusted ecosystems to surface in AI answers.
• Fixing the food system requires collectivism, even with rivals.
• "Some of our best consumers were the ones who engaged with the skipping function. Active management meant they were finding the right cadence for them." — Ricky Silver
• "Connection is a motive. It is not tech-driven — even if technology is the thing bringing us together." — Ricky Silver

• Learn more about Daily Harvest
• Catch up on Future Commerce’s 2026 predictions
• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.